The US Department of Energy has recently announced two new rules banning the manufacture of incandescent light bulbs starting in July 2022 and phasing in standards across industries over the following months.
The increase in blue light exposure to eyes and the consequent decline in sleep health has driven an expanding market for sleep aids, a $30 billion North American market in 2022.
Another rationale for the ban on incandescent light bulbs is that it will "Cut carbon emissions by 222 million metric tons over the next thirty years." While the carbon impact is largely outside the scope of my article, it is worth mentioning that the use of LEDs is not without environmental impact, specifically the use of metals such as lead and arsenic.
The increase in blue light affects nonhuman organisms such as bats and moths and may be a contributing factor in the declining insect population.
Light pollution dominates city skylines with blue light increasing by two percent per year from 2013 to 2016.
In my research, I learned that my LED lights create naturally appearing colors by separately increasing the levels of red, green, and blue light at specific wavelengths.
If we grant for the sake of argument that the state has a place in deciding the options available to light bulb consumers, a serious technocratic case could be made to ban LED light bulbs in favor of eye-friendly bulbs.
https://mises.org/wire/shedding-light-law-unintended-consequences
No comments:
Post a Comment